Apia International Sydney Tennis - Australian Open Series

Williams wins a thriller

AAP Sunday 11 January 2009 23 Comments »

American top seed Serena Williams has survived a massive scare to reach the second round of the Medibank International Sydney with a tense three-set victory over local hope Samantha Stosur.

The world No.2 and three-times Australian Open champion saved four match points and needed almost two-and-a-half hours to prevail 6-3 6-7(4) 7-5 and deny Stosur what would have been the biggest win of her career.

After claiming the first set, the match turned when Williams was serving for the match with a 6-5 lead in the second set, Stosur making the most of a controversial missed let call to break the American and take the set in a tiebreak.

The lack of a decision by the umpire clearly irked Williams and galvanised Stosur, who came out on top when the pair traded breaks early in the third set.

And the home crowd was sensing an upset when Stosur raced to a 40-0 lead serving for the match at 5-4 in the third.

But the top-ranked Australian blew all three match points and another in the same game to let Williams back into the match, the top seed showing plenty of heart in her first competitive match since suffering a hamstring injury at the year-ending Sony Ericsson WTA Championships in November.

Another tight game followed but Williams held serve and then secured the win on her second match point of the 11th game when Stosur’s shot drifted long.

The victory means Williams avoided the ignominy of becoming the first No.1 women’s seed to bow out in the first round since Jennifer Capriati in 2003.

Donning a diamond-studded necklace given to her by acclaimed Australian jeweller Nic Cerrone, Williams quickly discovered Stosur was in no mood for a fashion show in a real arm-wrestle of a match.

A lone break in the eighth game of the set was enough to secure a 6-3 win to the American and the second set appeared to be heading to Williams until the controversial let incident gave Stosur a way back in.

The third set was as tight as you can get until Stosur blew her golden opportunity to advance and Williams showed her class to keep her first Sydney campaign in seven years on track.

Fifth-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova also survived a scare to secure her passage through to the second round with a 3-6 6-1 6-3 win over China’s Peng Shuai.

In the final main draw singles match on Ken Rosewall Arena, sixth seed Agnieszka Radwanska defeated Sybille Bammer in straight sets 6-4 6-3.

In men’s action, Lleyton Hewitt and Chris Guccione remain the only Australians in the main draw of the men’s singles after Peter Luczak was beaten in the final round of qualifying by Belgian Xavier Malisse.

Tags: Sam Stosur, Serena Williams

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